


The River, the Woods

by Akai_chan11



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Families of Choice, Friendship, Mild Worldbuilding, Multi, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, We Die Like Men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 15:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21163700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akai_chan11/pseuds/Akai_chan11
Summary: In which Izuku is endlessly curious and just wants to help.(Or: another self-indulgent BnHA/KHR crossover. Because we don't have enough of them. Set in the BnHA universe.)





	The River, the Woods

Izuku walks past the same homeless man every day.

Or he’s assuming that the man is homeless. Musutafu is a relatively wealthy area, and with so many amazing heroes around Izuku had never even seen a one before. Hence why he doesn’t know what to do.

Izuku first saw him napping in an alley way that was on his way home from school. Because of UA there were so many incredible heroes in town, so it was only a matter of time til one of them came and saved the grey haired man. However, three days later the man was still in that alley sleeping. Or one time Izuku saw him smoking.

Why hadn’t the heroes come yet? The man obviously needed help.

He looked pale, his clothing torn and his scraggly grey hair and hunched over posture made it seem like he was an older man. He was sitting on folded cardboard boxes behind the steps of a back exit to an old sushi restaurant It was sort of hidden away, but if Izuku could notice it, then any amazing hero like Kamui Woods or Edgeshot would notice him and save him.

Izuku continued to walk past the alley to see if anything had changed, but it didn’t. Since nobody was helping the man maybe he should? He was quirkless and had no experience with this sort of situation but maybe he could atleast speak with the man? He pondered about what to do as he continued to walk home and vowed to do something the next day if the heroes did not come.

The fourth day after Izuku noticed the grey haired man he finally went into the alley. Ideally, he would have walked in and greeted the man, possibly gave him some food and offered to take him to a hero agency so one of them could help him.

However because Izuku was so curious about this man he kept on taking the same route home, and Kacchan and his friends took notice and started chasing him. With Izuku’s one track mind, of course he ran into the alley, but not wanting to bother the older homeless man he hid behind a dumpster that was on the other side of the alley and slightly further down.

Izuku crouched down and put his head between his knees. _‘Please don’t come down here Kacchan. Please don’t come. Please don’t come.’_ But as usual Izuku had no luck. He kept hidden, but he could hear the crackle pop of his bully’s quirk from the mouth of the alley.

Oddly enough, he didn’t hear him come closer. All Izuku could hear was the quiet sparks of Kacchan’s quirk and he didn’t understand why he hadn’t run in yet. Usually those little sparks were a precursor to screaming and huge explosions.  


As usual Izuku’s curiosity couldn’t be helped and with little to no deliberation he peeked out of his hiding spot. It put him in clear view of his not-really-a-friend-anymore but he wasn’t even looking towards Izuku. He was looking at the homeless man.

_‘Oh God, Kacchan isn’t going to go after the homeless man, is he? He looks so thin and frail.’_

But Izuku’s worries were pointless because his friend turns around and leaves with nothing more than a muted growl. His herd following behind him.

The whole situation was so out of character that Izuku was frozen to the spot. Before he could even ask the homeless man how he managed to get Kacchan to leave so calmly, or thank him, or even get a look at his face, the older man lights a cigarette, grabs the handrail to the staircase, pulls himself up and walks out of the alley.

The next day when Izuku goes to the back alley (on a more convoluted route so Kacchan doesn’t find him again) the homeless man isn’t there, but he finds him napping in the third nearest alley to the one he was sitting in the day before.

The next day he’s smoking in a secluded park about ten minutes from the first alley Izuku found him in.

Over the weekend Izuku can’t think of an excuse to leave the house that his mother would approve of so he doesn’t go looking for him over the weekend. It’s not like he could tell her _‘Hey mom, I’m just gonna go out for a few hours to check on a homeless man and see if he’s okay and if a hero has helped him yet.’_ so he stays home.

Izuku’s mind is still stuck on the whole thing. He’s watching All Might apprehend a villain with what seems to be an earth based elemental quirk but instead of analysing it and writing his findings in his Hero Analysis #8 notebook, he finds himself writing speculations about the homeless man in the margin:

  * Grey hair
  * Height unknown, but no taller then 5’6
  * Predominately dressed in black or dark clothing
  * Pale and thin. Doesn’t seem to eat enough
  * Based on hair and physique, probably 50yrs or older
  * No obvious quirk based mutations
  * Has shown no sign of a quirk
  * Is he quirkless?
  * Statistically, about 50% of the older generation is quirkless
  * Discrimination towards the quirkless is also more rampant in comparison to those with quirks
  * <strike>Is that why he’s homeless?</strike>

Izuku stops writing after that.

That’s when he realises that he’s writing on pages that were supposed to be dedicated to All Might’s latest awe-inspiring victory. This notebook is for hero analysis. The change in subject in a notebook that was dedicated to something else was irrationally annoying but what was done was done. Crossing the notes out would make it even more messy then it already was and ripping out the pages would damage the binding of the book. Kacchan and their classmates hadn’t gotten to this book yet, so he wanted to preserve it as best as he could.

Atleast he was only scribbling in the margins.

To stop himself from obsessing over this stranger he starts analysing All Might’s battle. Then it’s time to do his homework and eat dinner and go to bed.

Rinse repeat.

o.O.o

Monday after school he finds him smoking behind a 7/11 in the same clothes he first saw him in last Monday. The same ratty laced boots and worn ripped jeans but with a knitted hat, a mouldy ill-fitting jacket and a blanket over the top. Izuku knows that he can’t let this continue.

He may not be a hero, but he wants to be one.

Last week the man seemed almost casual, albeit suspicious – just smoking a cigarette behind a dumpster. Now he’s bundled up in layers and layers of ratty clothing even though it’s like 80°F* outside. The man is still smoking but he’s listing to the side now, like he can’t even sit up straight anymore.

Which is why Izuku wants to help him.

He’s gonna be a hero one day and heroes help people in need.

With newfound courage Izuku jumps forward and brightly says:

“Hi! Umm are you okay Oji-san*? Can I help you out,” And this is when Izuku realises he has not thought this through. “Somehow?” He ends nervously. But when Izuku actually gets a clear look at his face he realises his mistake.

“Haa?! Oji-san? Do I look like an old fucking man to you? Go get your eyes checked you fucking seaweed dweeb.”

And honestly Izuku really should consider it, because how did he not notice that someone who he has basically been following for the last week is around the same age as him?

The boy has light green eyes and his face is covered in band aids with a few bruises peeking out beneath them. He has a split lip and a few of his band aids are speckled with blood where it is starting to seep through. Honestly he should look pitiful, especially with his pale skin making the purple and black and brown and yellow bruises stand out even more, but the defiant light in his eyes make him look dangerous.

“Oh my God I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean- I just. Your hair. I-“

“So now there’s something wrong with my hair?!” The grey-haired boy screeches. “Go fuck yourself.”

“I’m sorry your hair is fine! I mean it’s good! I mean there’s nothing wrong with your hair!” Izuku squeaks as he looks away. “I…”

God, why is he still muttering about somebody else’s hair? At this rate the homeless boy is gonna murder him. If not physically the with that terrifying glare of his. ‘Wow, his glare is almost as murder-y as Kacchan’s.’

And all of this begs the question of how did a child end up on the streets? Izuku is only thirteen and this boy can’t really be any older. The idea of a homeless adult was surprising enough but for there to be a homeless boy wandering around Musutafu? Where were the heroes? If Izuku for some fathomless reason ended up homeless he knows that one of his heroes would help him.

“Brat, are you done having your mental break yet?” The other boy interrupts.

And of course Izuku ignores the boy who needs help while he speculates away in his own head.

“I’m not! I just. I’m sorry! You just,” Izuku loses steam as he remembers why he started speaking to the boy in the first place. “look like you need help.” Izuku ends lamely as he continues to avoid eye contact.

The other boy fails to answer, and when the awkward silence becomes unbearably long Izuku finally looks up. He expects to be met with that terrifying glare again but is surprised when he is not. The other boy definitely isn’t happy, but he feels less hostile. It feels more like the other boy is trying to assess him now— size him up, but can’t decide whether he’s satisfied or disappointed in what he sees.

It’s unnerving but atleast it’s not genuinely scary anymore.

Aaaaand the silence is still dragging which is pretty awkward.

The other boy breaks the silence with a sigh. “Look kid, it’s nice that you care, but take that bleeding heart and go home. You don’t belong here and you don’t owe me shit.”

As he says this the grey haired boy sags further into the grimy concrete and lights another cigarette. When he looks up again his facial expression is enough to convey his disapproval of Izuku’s existence in his general vicinity.

But since facial expressions aren’t enough to chase Izuku away. “I told you to fuck off. I’m not gonna ask you again.” The other boy reiterates.

And Izuku definitely did not need to be asked again. He wanted to help the other boy out but he only seemed to be pissing him off. The smart thing to do would be to leave, but he was rooted to the spot. But how could he leave without doing anything? How could Izuku say that he wants to be a hero if he does nothing?

And when the grey haired boy let out a noise that was half way between a hiss and a growl Izuku’s ingrained self-preservation instincts finally win out over his curiosity and he runs out of the alley.

With no other destination in mind he started to walk home but he couldn’t help but drag his feet. The homeless boy had a temper that rivalled Kacchan’s but no matter how much he was unintentionally insulted by Izuku he never got up. If anything he seemed to sink more into the concrete and light another cigarette. It just felt wrong.

Wait, light another cigarette?

Izuku had seen the boy almost every day for the past week and if he wasn’t sleeping he was smoking. He honestly didn’t know anyone who smoked- adult and students alike. Over the last century or so it had become far less popular. It was addictive, smelled bad, is bad for your health, curbed appetite, turned your teeth and fingers yellow, smelled bad… Wait, curbed appetite? The silver haired boy wasn’t smoking instead of eating was he? It seemed completely illogical to Izuku but what did he know? The only time he had really seen any homeless people was in Tokyo, and this was definitely the first homeless child he had seen that was around his own age.

“It’s a good thing you grew up around these parts then kid.” An older man jokes as he walks past, probably in reply to Izuku’s endless muttering. He blushes and looks down to the ground in embarrassment when he realises that he was thinking out loud again.

The man’s words put Izuku’s thoughts into perspective though. He has been thinking about this whole thing incorrectly. Not once did he actually think about the boy himself. Hell when he met him, Izuku didn’t even ask his name!

This isn’t the heroes coming to apprehend a villain. He can’t just assess their quirks and watch the situation get resolved when the villain gets sent to jail. This was someone his own age who needed long term help.

Izuku is so used to watching someone else resolve the situation and getting excited with the happy ending that he forgot that the world does not revolve around heroes and villains. Around heroes and the people they rescue. There are people behind the masks and this grey haired boy is not just a statistic.

He’s not an anomaly for Izuku to analyse the way he analyses his heroes.

Izuku needs to think about this situation in a different way if he wants to help this boy. He needs more information and he actually needs to act. Maybe he could try to give this boy food or clothing or money. Those are the things that Izuku thinks he might need if he didn’t have a home.

He’s grown up in completely different circumstances to the silver haired boy. His quirklessness may have put him at a disadvantage in society but his mother was always there to support them and keep their family financially stable. He really is thankful to his mother.

His mother who he has basically been ignoring for the past week while he’s been stuck in his own world thinking about this.

Even when he comes home tonight, later then ever before she doesn’t ask questions. She just shakily smiles and cooks him dinner. She cooks his favourite so he knows she’s worried, but she doesn’t ask questions. Just shows her support and waits for Izuku to come to her. Because he always does. Eventually.

Izuku really doesn’t deserve her.

And although Izuku knows that she is waiting for him to talk he can’t get the words out. What would he even say? He has more questions than answers and was chased off by someone he wanted to help.

After he did something that helped the silver haired boy, something that was befitting of the hero he wanted to be, then he would talk to her.

**Author's Note:**

> [1] 80F = 27C  
I'm more used to European metrics these days but I think there are more American readers so I'll go with Fahrenheit for now.
> 
> [2] Oji-san: It sort of means mister or old man in Japanese? It's not an inherently impolite term but it is sort of casual and it should only be used if you are addressing someone significantly older then you, otherwise you're being rude by implying that they're old. 
> 
> I watch too much anime and read too much manga so I try to keep to keep some of the Japanese terminology because it feels closer to the original source material or something. I might just be stubborn though. 
> 
> The title is inspired by this song by Astronautalis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE8S3493u9g
> 
> Anyway comments and kudos are life. If you spot any mistake feel free to drop a comment and have an awesome day :D


End file.
